A Very Urban Ghetto, or Once Again about the Alternative Terms Describing the Warsaw Jewish Restricted Area

Abstract

The article examines the specific linguistic expressions used to name the phenomenon of the Warsaw ghetto established in November 1940 and existing until May 1943. The common denominator of the terms analyzed here is their semantic components that directly refer to the urban character of the ghetto. The range of meanings of the expressions presented here and their simultaneous urban connotations reflect how Jewish and non-Jewish residents of Warsaw who were directly affected by the city’s division conceptualized the phenomenon of the ghetto. The article supplements the already known diagnoses concerning the metaphors of the Warsaw ghetto and provides a commentary on a more general level about ways of naming the space of oppression.